


Lost in Twilight

by plutoisaplanet



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, I'll probably add more tags as I go..., Twilight Series Rewrite
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:41:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29369448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plutoisaplanet/pseuds/plutoisaplanet
Summary: I, like many teen girls growing up in the 2000s, enjoyed Twilight growing up.  It was a cheesy - and sometimes problematic - series, but it will always hold a special place in my heart.  Of course, I wasn't expecting to wake up in Bella's body mid-story.  If this was a dream, it was the most elaborate, detailed, and long-lasting dream I've ever had...OR... A girl gets trapped in Bella's body mid-Twilight and has to figure out what to do.  Will she try to convince people that she's Bella, or tell them the truth?----Inspired partly by the movie Lost in Austin (where a Pride and Prejudice fan accidentally switches places with Elizabeth Bennet), and partly inspired by the 2020 Twilight resurgence and release of Midnight Sun that reignited my love-hate relationship with these books and movies.
Relationships: Edward Cullen/Bella Swan, Edward Cullen/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 48





	1. Chapter 1

My head was pounding. Where was I? What was I doing before this?

“How is she?”

“Her initial exam was normal, but we’ll have to wait and see when she wakes up. Her father should be here soon.”

Exam? Dad was coming? Was I in a hospital? I focused on what I could sense around me and heard the beeping of a machine. Hospital was sounding more likely. What happened? Did I injure myself? I can’t remember. 

“Do you think she’ll remember anything when she wakes up?”

“I can’t be sure right now. We’ll have to wait and see.”

“I did this to her. What if I hurt her?”

“Edward, you saved her. She would have been crushed by that van had you not pulled her out of the way.”

Crushed by a van? Hospital was a good guess then. But who was talking? Who was this Edward?

I twitched my hands. Under them, I could feel the uncomfortable sheets of a bed. And I could register feeling in my feet and legs. They didn’t hurt. Just a pounding in my head that I still couldn’t remember the source of.

Slowly I tried prying my eyes open. Instantly I squinted, having to acclimate myself to the fluorescents.

I groaned and continued to blink at the ceiling and tried to lift my body off the bed to get a better look at my surroundings.

“Whoa, easy there Bella. Take it easy. You hit your head pretty hard in the accident.”

“Accident?” I responded slowly, groggily, but more importantly, I noted the name I was called. “Who’s Bella?”

The two men who were talking over my bed shared a concerned look as my eyes finally focused. In front of me stood a doctor and a teen boy. Both incredibly drop-dead gorgeous. I’m pretty sure my jaw literally dropped when I got a good look at them. But their concern didn’t seem to fade. 

“Edward, why don’t you find Chief Swan. I’ll need to run a few more tests now that she’s awake,” The gorgeous doctor said as he double-checked the chart in front of him. 

“He’s coming up now,” Edward responded.

EDWARD! BELLA! CHEIF SWAN!

“Holy fucking crap! I’m in Twilight.” My head was spinning. What a weird dream.

Someone, probably Charlie Swan, walked in the room, just as I laid my head back down and passed out again.

~*~*~

What a weird dream to have, to wake up in a hospital with Twilight characters. My dream versions of Edward and Carlisle didn’t quite look like their movie counterparts. Weird. But Charlie did look like Billy Burke in a mustache. 

I didn’t want to wake up yet. My alarm hadn’t gone off, and dreaming of a Twilight world was fun. I wasn’t obsessed with it anymore - hadn’t been since I was 14, and I was 27 now. But it still held a special place of mostly cringe memories in my heart.

I was coming to full consciousness, but something didn’t feel right. I could tell now that I wasn’t in my bed at home. There was nobody next to me, and my sheets were way softer than this.

I slowly cracked open an eye, and again I was met with hospital fluorescents.

Quickly I squeezed my eyes closed again. I was still dreaming! I tried to will myself to wake up, but nothing happened. I could hear shuffling around the hospital room. Was it Charlie, Edward, or Carlisle? I tried to even out my breathing before anyone became aware that I was awake. (Although, who knows what will get past a vampire's ears).

Think. This was a dream, right? It didn’t feel like a dream though. Everything was too solid, too clear. I never dreamed with this much clarity and control over my actions. So if this wasn’t a dream. Maybe I actually was in the hospital and I just couldn’t remember why. And as for the FICTIONAL CHARACTERS?! Maybe I just hallucinated them….

I tried staying as calmly as I could. I didn’t want to do or say anything to make the doctors think I was crazy - because I had to be hallucinating Twilight character’s right?! If this was the normal world, everyone would think I’m crazy.

I slowly opened my eyes again. And I tried moving again, which I guess alerted everyone that I had awoken.

“Bells! You’re awake!” It was Billy Burke - I mean Charlie Swan - at my - Bella Swan’s - bedside. At least, I think I’m Bella Swan in this weird hallucination. He turned to a nurse I didn’t notice before, “She’s awake.”

“I’ll go find Dr. Cullen. He’ll want to know.” A nurse I hadn’t initially realized was in the room left, leaving me alone with Billy Burke… No - Charlie Swan. I kept thinking of him as Billy Burke because he showed the closest likeness to his movie counterpart. (And also Charlie was the best part of the Twilight movies. They were cheesy and Billy Burke knew it and killed it.) Edward and Carlisle couldn’t even compare to their movie counterparts, which made sense because it was probably an impossible task to cast a strikingly inhuman yet gorgeous vampire. 

My eyes followed the nurse leaving, and I caught sight of Edward Cullen standing by the nurse’s station. A schooled look covered his face, but I remembered his comments from when I was first gaining consciousness, as well as vaguely remembering his POV in Midnight Sun during these chapters. He was concerned for me, concerned by his concern for me, and he probably thought he caused this.

Although now that I thought about the situation clearer. Where in the story was I? Tyler’s car accident didn’t cause Bella to pass out in the books. She hit her head but didn’t lose consciousness. She didn’t even have a concussion, but it was the most likely cause of the accident I appeared to have experienced now, so things were changing? I mean I was here, which could be a big catalyst for change.

Charlie was still giving me a concerned look. I hadn’t answered any of his questions, hadn’t even talked yet. I didn’t know what to say yet to anyone let alone my ‘Dad’.

Luckily I didn’t need to say anything. Dr. Cullen walked back into my room, with Edward shadowing behind him.

“Well, I see our patient is back with us,” he said in a tone that I’m sure was meant to calm his patients. Probably would have worked on me too if I wasn’t so freaked out.

Charlie got up to let the doctor do his thing, and Carlisle came and sat in the stool that was vacated. 

“I’m going to ask you a few questions,” He said in his calming voice, “Can you tell me what your name is?”

My name… They were looking for me to say 'Bella'. In a split-second decision, I figured it would be best to play along for now as much as I could, with what knowledge I had… It at least sounded better than admitting that I was NOT Bella and this was NOT real.

“Uhh. Bella. Swan,” I sputtered out, and for the first time took note of my voice. A voice that was different than the one I had heard my whole life.

“Good Bella. Do you know where you are?”

“The hospital I think?” The look on Charlie’s face in the corner of my eye gave me hope that I was right, “In Forks.” I added to test the waters.

“Very Good.” Dr. Cullen seemed pleased with my answers so far. How many more questions would he ask? But regardless, at some point, I would be asked a question I should know the answer to but don’t. Or maybe see someone I should know but don’t. 

“Can you tell me what the date is?” Shoot. A question I don't know. I couldn’t even remember when in the school year this took place in the book. Wintertime I’m pretty sure because of the snow, but other than that I was not sure at all. It had been a while since I read the books, and the movies, while fun, were not always accurate, especially when the timing of events was involved.

The previous relief on Charlie’s face reverted back to concern after my delay in answering. “I don’t know… Winter?” I went with. “It’s icy,” I added in to hopefully calm Charlie a bit. I didn’t want Bella’s dad too concerned over me.

To Carlisle’s credit, he had an excellent bedside manner. His face remained calm the entire time. “That’s okay Bella. Some confusion is typical after a head injury. Can you tell me how many fingers I am holding up?”

I answered correctly this time, and Dr. Cullen shined his light in my eyes, asked me to look this way and that. It appeared I passed that test too.

“It appears that you have a concussion, Bella. You might have some trouble remembering things for the next few days. I recommend staying home from school until we have another appointment to evaluate how you're healing. Chief Swan, if you wouldn’t mind stepping into the hall with me to discuss Bella’s next steps.”

I didn’t miss the suspicious look Charlie gave Edward as he followed Carlisle out of the room. It wasn’t an ‘I think you pushed my daughter in front of the car look’ but rather an ‘I think you and my daughter have some sort of relationship and I’m watching you’ look. Regardless, I couldn’t help but think that if Carlisle wanted to speak to Charlie without me, he thought my prognosis was worse than he let on.

Edward was left alone with me in the room. Gracefully, he sat on the edge of my bed, I guess trying to be a casual teenage boy. Of course, I knew that he was obsessing over Bella, both her wellbeing and her blood. That second part sent a shiver up my spine, but I had to remember that Edward would never hurt Bella. Then again, I wasn’t Bella.

“Bella, you gave us all quite a scare there for a minute. Do you remember what happened in the parking lot?” Edward asked with concern. I assumed this was fake concern. I think I remember both from Twilight and Midnight Sun that Edward was now mostly concerned that he blew his family's cover. Well, fortunately - or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it - I already knew their secret.

The real question, do I try to be Bella, or reveal the truth now? I wished I remembered the books better, because then maybe I'd have a chance of pulling this bait-and-switch off. But if anyone was going to realize that something was off, it would be my psycho stalker/ guardian angel (depending on how you viewed the situation). I didn't have long to consider, but Edward might be the right person to share the truth with.

"In the parking lot. Tyler's van skid on the ice, and nearly killed Bella, but you pulled her out of the way." I was aware that speaking in the 'third person' would confuse Edward, and surely enough, he didn't try to mask his confusion.

He was about to say something else before I stopped him. I had to get this out now or I might not be able to, "Stop. Whatever you're about to say. Wait. I probably sound like I'm talking gibberish, but give me a minute." Edward did seem to give me a minute to gain my bearings. "You're Edward Cullen. I know all about you. But I'm not Bella Swan. I know I told Carlisle that I was, but that was mostly for Charlie's benefit."

A confused look crossed Edward's face, a confusion I didn’t think existed before now. “I... I’m not sure I understand what you mean.” I could tell he was contemplating my words, although I wasn't sure exactly which words were the most confusing. It could be the 'I know all about you,' but I decided to focus on the 'not Bella' right now. Maybe if he accepted that I wasn't Bella, then he wouldn't freak out when I revealed that I knew all about vampirism.

“I’m... my name is...” Blank. I should know my name. It should be the easiest thing in the world to recall, but my mind was blank. “I don’t know. I don’t know my own name”. How could I not know my own name?!

Well not knowing my own name sure didn't seem to convince Edward of anything. “Your name is Bella Swan. I think you hit your head pretty hard back there. But you are Bella.” Edward insisted, edging closer to me on the bed.

Screw Edward freaking Cullen for the moment. Not being able to recall my own name was causing a bit of an existential crisis that for the moment seemed to trump everything else. 

“No, I’m sure I’m not Bella. I can’t remember my name. Why can’t I remember my name.” I was frustrated for sure, but ignoring Edward for the moment seemed impossible. 

"Ugh, and of course you don't believe me." I threw myself back in the hospital bed, "I probably sound crazy right now. Maybe I am going crazy. I don’t know. But I’m not Bella. Bella Swan is a fictional character. Edward Cullen is also a fictional character. All part of a series of books called twilight.” There - I said it. Regardless if he believed me, the cat was out of the bag.

“Books? Bella, I think you need to calm down for a second. Carlisle can help you figure everything out when he comes back with Charlie.”

"No!" I shot up again, startling Edward again. I didn't think vampires could be startled this much. "I mean. Don't mention any of this to Charlie. When he comes back, pretend I never mentioned any of this. Say whatever you want to Carlisle later, but not Charlie."

Edward gave me a nod and just in time for Charlie and Carlisle to re-enter the room.

Carlisle still had his calming face on, "Well Bella. I prescribe some rest at home. I've arranged with your father for your follow-up appointment on Friday. Take it easy until then." He gave me a smile, before he directed Edward to follow him out, "Edward, let's let Bella and her father check out in privacy."

As the two left, I knew I still had a lot left to discuss with Edward. Well, if he still wanted to speak to me - or Bella - after my claims.

Knowing Edward's obsessiveness from the books, I hoped he was still listening from afar. As I packed up the personal items that seemed to be Bella's, I whispered so that Charlie couldn't hear me, but hoping that Edward's vampire ears could.

"Edward, if you can hear me - and if you still want to talk to me - meet me tonight in my room. I know you know where it is. I know you can climb in the window. If you're willing to listen more, I'll explain anything I can."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> I'd love to write more if there is enough interest. I have a few ideas where to take this story in the short term, and lots of options for the long term if there's enough interest in that.
> 
> I love comments so let me know what you think, and if you want me to continue!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with chapter 2!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who left kudos and comments! Keeps them coming! They're especially encouraging for getting chapters out weekly, which I hope to do for this story. I used my weekend to plan out this whole story, so I'm really excited to write and share it with you all! But of course, things are forever in flux, so I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments and if you have ideas for a direction you think the story should go!
> 
> Also big shoutout to my new Beta Emily!
> 
> Without further ado, onto the story:

I let Charlie lead me out of the hospital and to his police cruiser (and thank god he was leading, because I did not know what his car looked like). Charlie looked like he wanted to say something, but I just got into the front seat and opted to stay silent. I didn’t know what to say that won’t make it seem like something is up. Thank goodness that I knew Charlie was as un-confrontational as possible because at least for now he accepted my silence and started driving home.

Instead, I look out the window at the scenery. It’s beautiful. I’ve only been to Washington once. And I definitely never was obsessed enough with Twilight to visit the real town of Forks. But I loved the rainy forests and small-town vibes. I grew up in the suburbs near a big city. Forks was definitely not that. But I also realized that the nosey, gossipy small town that Bella described in Twilight might become a problem for me soon, as I’m sure everyone at Bella’s school would have their own take on what happened to Bella - and me.

The car ride and Charlie’s silence did give me time to think about my next steps. How to deal with the Cullens and vampires was one thing, but just surviving and playing the part of Bella would be a different issue. Carlisle diagnosed me with a concussion and some minor memory loss. Well, that was a crutch I could tell I’d be leaning on for a while.

We pulled up to a small two-story house. This must be Bella’s house. Her rusted old truck was parked on the side of the road. I briefly thought about the problem that I couldn’t drive a stick shift, but that was the least of my worries right now.

As Charlie and I entered the house, he finally ended his silence. “So Bella. Renee called and…” I groaned, causing Charlie to pause. 

I had forgotten about Renee, Bella’s mother. I might be able to fool Charlie, who had only been living with Bella for a month I think? (Again, I forget a lot of the timing of the books). But I wasn’t sure I’d be able to fool Bella’s mother who has been with her, her entire life.

Charlie continued after my groan, “She’s worried about you. It took me calling Phil to convince her not to immediately jump on the next flight out here.”

“Thanks for that. She doesn’t need to come out here. I’m fine.”

“Well umm… You’ll still need to call her.” Great… Still, a call was better than her coming here.

I was pretty sure that Bella didn’t have a cell phone. I think this is 2005, or maybe 2006, but in the real world, I don’t think many people got cell phones until around 2007 (I was in 7th grade then, so my memory might not be the clearest).

I noticed a landline on the wall in the kitchen and walked over to it. But there weren’t any numbers on the wall and I’m pretty sure landlines don’t have speed-dial or contact lists. I forgot about the days when people memorized their friends’ home numbers (which is an actual thing I suddenly remembered doing in elementary school).

Perfect timing for Charlie to walk into the kitchen and open the fridge. He paused when he just saw me staring at the phone.

“You scared to call her?”

“I don’t… Remember her number.” Hopefully the memory loss approach would work here, but I didn’t want to turn to Charlie to see him worrying.

He quickly dialed the number while muttering about making a list of important numbers to hang by the phone. Not a bad idea, especially if I ever needed to call him at work, for example. Then he gave me some privacy for my call. I was really appreciating Charlie’s no-hover attitude right now.

After a few rings, the phone picked up. “Hello?”

My first test of if I could convince anyone that I’m Bella. Note to self: call her Mom, not Renee. “Hi, Mom?”

“Oh, Bella! I was so worried! I was halfway to buying a flight to Washington before Phil and Charlie talked me down.”

“I’m fine Mom. Just a little fumble, but no reason to get on a plane.”

“Just a little fumble? You were in a car accident. You could have been killed! Oh, I know I sound like I’m crazy, but I just had a feeling that if you went to Forks, you’d wind up in trouble somehow. And you’ve barely been there one week, and already a trip to the hospital!”

It wasn’t crazy. Bella’s life had been in considerable danger all throughout the books. Edward wanted to kill her the moment he met her. The incident at Port Angeles. James, Victoria, and the Volturi. And of course the car accident she was referring to now. Not so crazy after all, but of course she didn’t need to know that.

“It was barely a car accident. I wasn’t even in a car. I just got pulled out of the way and hit my head.” I didn’t know how many details Charlie had given her. Better to leave what I could out for now.

“Hmph.” I could tell Renee thought the situation was worse than I was letting on, but she moved past it. “Please email me more Bella. It’s cruel to keep your poor mother waiting on days on end for a response. I made Charlie get you that computer for a reason.”

I forgot that Bella did have a computer in her room, which excited me for a moment that I wouldn’t be completely cut off from the internet I had become so reliant on in 2020. But I couldn’t dwell too long on that thought, because I realized that I didn’t have any of Bella’s sign-in information. 

“Emails. Right… Weird question,” I was trying to phrase this in a way that wouldn’t make Renee suspicious, but I don’t think there was a way… Might as well just say it, “Do you know my password?”

“Your password?”

Ugh. I was going to have to tell her I had a concussion. It was the easiest way to explain my lapse in memory, but I had just calmed her down about the hospital visit and now I had to open that discussion back up.

“Yea. The doctor said some temporary memory loss was a common symptom of a concussion.”

“You have a concussion? You didn’t say anything about that.”

“It’s not a big deal. Do you know my password or not.” I could tell my tone was starting to show my irritation. “I just want to make sure I can still email you,” I added lighter, hoping that she would move past the concussion.

“You’re lucky all your passwords are the same.” Yes! Renee gave me Bella’s simple password. Lucky indeed that password security wasn’t as strict in 2005. Or was it just Bella with the weak password? Either way, it was my godsend at the moment.

“Alright mom. I’m going to go lay down. I promise I’ll email you tomorrow.” I really just hoped that I could finish this call. It was stressful trying to be someone else.

Thankfully Renee took the bait, and after a few goodbye’s and love you’s, I had passed this first trial.

~*~*~

Renee was out of the way for now (writing emails would be a cakewalk compared to that phone call). I let Charlie know I wasn’t hungry and was going to bed, and headed up the stairs to find Bella’s room. Which wasn’t that difficult since there were only 4 doors at the top of the stairs: The bathroom, linen closet, Charlie’s room, and Bella’s room - now my room.

Bella’s room was exactly what I expected and at the same time completely foreign to me. It was small with just a twin bed, a dresser, and a desk with a clunky computer on it. Immediately my thoughts went to the twin bed, and how after sleeping on one for 4 years in college, I vowed never to sleep on one again. Kind of unavoidable now.

Other than the basics, the room was kind of bare, like this was a guest room. I suppose it sort of was until Bella moved to Forks permanently, which couldn’t have been that long ago. I wasn’t sure of the exact timeline - something that I hoped to be able to figure out from Edward. That is, if he decided to show up. I decided to open up the curtains and the window, in the hopes that he would. Also, I kind of needed the cold air to calm down. The insane-ness of today was making my anxiety spike.

Since I woke up in the hospital today I hadn’t had any time to process, I just reacted. But now while I waited for Charlie to go to bed and hopefully for Edward to show up, I had nothing but time to think. The first thing that should have come to mind was how crazy this was that I was in Twilight, but I think even that was too much to process right now.

Instead, I did the vain thing and walked over to the mirror. I hadn’t had a chance yet to see what this Bella looked like. I’m fairly sure Edward described her as unremarkable in the beginning of Midnight Sun. Of course he changed his tune on that one, but still, it was only fair that I wanted to see what I was working with.

I found that I wasn’t shocked by my - Bella’s - reflection. I couldn’t remember what my own face looked like, but I knew for sure that I did not look like Bella. She was pretty, with perfect pale skin, soft brown hair, and big brown eyes. But otherwise, pretty unremarkable in any other way. Maybe Bella didn’t have the highest self-esteem at the beginning of the story, but she was very generically pretty. It was no wonder so many of her male classmates developed crushes on her (I was not looking forward to dealing with those, but a problem for another day).

I couldn’t remember the specifics of Bella’s book description. She always felt like she was written to be somewhat of a self-insert character for the teen girl audience. How funny that here I am now literally self-inserted into Bella’s life.

I didn’t want to dwell on this weird new body that didn’t feel like my own anymore. Might as well go through all of Bella’s stuff. I don’t know if it could be considered an invasion of privacy after I literally invaded her life.

I started at her computer, and it was good that I got her password from Renee. Her email was open so I now knew her email address. Of course it was an old AOL account, reminding me just how out of date everything was. I chuckled at thinking about how AIM (AOL instant messenger) would become popular soon. Even though I just got off the phone with her, I sent off a quick email to Renee so hopefully she wouldn’t worry about me for a while.

After exploring the computer, I moved onto the backpack. Bella had a folder and notebook for each class and a planner with all her assignments and class schedule inside. Thank god she was so organized, this would make it much easier for me to step into her life. Also in her planner was a bunch of phone numbers for various other students. I think it was written by Jessica as the handwriting did not match the rest of the writing.

I snooped around other things like her drawers and clothes (which were very plain and maybe the style of 2005, but not my style for sure), but with nothing else to distract me, I began to think about my real life.

It was so confusing what I could and couldn’t remember. I couldn’t remember any faces or names of my friends and family, even though I knew I had them. I also couldn’t remember many dates, like my birthday, even though weirdly I could remember my age and what year it was when I left (27 years old and 2020, making my birth year 1993. I guess I should be in 5th grade right now… If my real self did exist in this reality).

I had memories though. Memories that were so clear in some ways, like details about a trip or a funny interaction, but blurred in other ways. I remembered my mom, dad, and sister, and I hoped that I didn’t just up and disappear in my reality leaving them worried. I also remembered that I had a boyfriend. That would be an awkward topic to breach with Edward who was probably already unintentionally falling in love with Bella.

But thinking about what was left behind was making me sad. Instead, I decided that if I had to fit into this world, I should figure out which of my favorite things, like TV, movies, and music, existed already. Definitely an easier topic to focus on than losing everyone I know and love. The internet came in handy here (although YouTube wouldn’t be made public for a few more months so no background music, sadly).

I didn’t know how long I was on my computer, but 2020 definitely prepared me for staring at screens for hours on end. I heard Charlie go to bed a while ago, and it was getting late. I guess Edward decided not to come. I turned from the desk to get ready for bed.

“AHHGHH!”

Edward was in here, sitting on the bed just staring at me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a lot of Edward yet, but don't worry, we'll be seeing a lot of him in the next chapter...
> 
> Let me know what you thought in the comments. And let me know what things you're looking forward to in the story most!
> 
> See you all next time


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally a new chapter!  
> I started working on this as soon as I posted the last one but it took forever for me to figure out how to write Edward. I like how it ended up though, so I hope you do too!
> 
> Thanks to my beta, Emily, for giving me feedback and editing for me!
> 
> Some notes:
> 
> 1\. Small thing, but I changed the date of Bella/OC's follow-up appt from Monday to Friday, just cause I looked up the timeline and figured it worked better. A minor change that barely matters, but figured I'd mention it anyway.
> 
> 2\. I constantly say that OC is from 2020, and not 2021, and this is mostly because I am just so used to typing 2020, that I don't feel like changing it because it won't make a huge difference in the book. Also, from a 2005 perspective, 2020 just sounds so much nicer.
> 
> 3\. Covid is not going to be a thing in 2020. Why? Well, originally I was going to make it a thing. Obviously, it's been a big part of 2020, and it would be a nice parallel to Edward dying from Spanish influenza. But I didn't want this story to revolve around covid, and also I realized I liked writing as if covid wasn't a thing. So yea. maybe I might want to retcon it back in if I think it's supercritical, but as of now, let's just jump into a Covid-free world.
> 
> Enjoy!

Edward was here, sitting on the bed just staring at me.

“Jesus, you gave me a heart attack! Did I wake Charlie up?” 

Edward shook his head ‘No’, while I tried to slow my racing heartbeat.

“How long have you just been sitting here?”

“A while.”

“I know I invited you and left my window open, but common courtesy would suggest that you make your presence known.”

Edward ignored my comment and continued to stare at me curiously, “You say you're not Bella. What does that mean? Who are you? What do you know about me?”

In my frustration, I decided to ignore his questions for now. Really, I should have spent some time thinking of how to answer these questions that I knew he would ask. But of course, I hadn’t.

Instead, I took a minute to get a good look at him. I hadn’t had the time before, but now the first thought that came to mind was how young and boyish Edward was. Not including vampire traits, I can’t recall many book physical descriptions for the characters. And my main visual reference is the movies, which cast actors older than the parts, so it was weird now to think about how young seventeen really looked. (Hell, I also recall now that Carlisle was super young at the hospital too.) Robert Pattinson - of course, I could remember the cast’s names - didn’t do Edward justice. 

“Your hair’s kind of ginger,” I said instead. And then I’m pretty sure I flushed a deep red. Of course, my brain-to-mouth filter decided to malfunction at this moment. Edward’s hair, which I now remember as being described as copper-bronze in the books, was almost ginger when the light hit it, and for some reason, my brain decided to focus on this factor. (I started to remember being disappointed when the first Twilight movie premiered and Edward’s hair was just brown…)

I thought Edward might look confused or frustrated at my hair comment, but instead, I noticed his face became pained when I flushed. Oh, shoot. Please don’t accidentally kill me. Dying from blushing - that would really suck.

After a minute of staying absolutely still, he took a deep breath in and appeared to be in control. But now he was definitely confused. “What do you know? You mentioned books in the hospital. Does that have anything to do with this?”

“Yea. I don’t really know the best way to explain this, but yea. The books - The Twilight Saga - have everything to do with this.” Edward remained silent, seemingly intent on just gathering whatever information I was willing to share. “So in my reality, the Twilight books are fiction. And they’re about the love story between Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. The love story between a human… and a vampire.”

There. I said it. Vampire. 

A bunch of different emotions flashed over Edward’s face quickly. I thought as a vampire he would be able to school his face better than this, or maybe I was just very in-tune with what he was probably thinking. Right now it was confusion and fear, but that lasted less than a second. Replacing it was a cool expression.

“Vampires, Bella? You must have hit your head harder than Carlisle thought.”

Of course, Edward was defaulting back to his book reaction… Nope - not happening!

“Oh no, you don’t. You can’t gaslight me like you gaslit Bella in the books.”

“Gaslight?” Oh, I guess that’s not a term yet in 2005.

“It’s when you manipulate someone to make them question their memories or reality. Really abusive move to pull.” I said with a grimace. When I originally read the books when I was a teen, I didn’t realize that what Edward did to Bella was mentally abusive. But yea... dick move Edward. 

Edward didn’t look guilty, but his expression was now intrigued I think. I continued when he didn’t say anything. “But you can’t convince me I’m crazy. I mean, I already know this is crazy. I’m in a freaking book! But that won’t explain how I know certain things about you, or your family, or vampires in general. And I mean, you did show up here tonight. So you have to at least be curious on some level.”

“Curious is one word to describe it. So for the sake of conversation, let’s assume I believe what you’ve said so far, about my life as the subject of a book. What is it you know?”

Oh, so this was probably a fact-finding mission for his family. “Well, the cat’s already out of the bag. I know you and your family are vampires. But vegetarian vampires. And I know that Carlisle turned you in 1918, and then Esme and the others. Not Alice and Jasper though.” Edward was intensely listening, waiting for more presumably. “I know everyone in your family’s origin stories. They were all part of the books.”

He looked like he was internally battling with what to say. What he should reveal or confirm as true. “I still can’t rationally believe this book theory. But I also can’t deny that what you say is true about my family.” 

“I understand that you're worried about your family's safety. And that coming here tonight was a huge risk. But you don’t have to worry about me saying anything to anyone. I mean even if I did, I would sound crazy. And you totally can always claim the ‘concussion’ and ‘memory loss’ if I do say anything. Which I won’t. You can trust me.”

"I don't know if I have a choice anymore. You already seem to know so much." His voice was almost a whisper.

Edward looked like he was deep in thought, and I didn’t know what else I should say. I didn’t think telling him more about the books would make him feel better right now.

After what seemed like minutes of silence, but was probably only a few seconds, he continued. “What I still don’t understand - or can’t believe - is that you say that you’re not Bella. Who are you then? Why are you here?”

“Ugh! I wish I knew! Like I said in the hospital, I can’t remember my name, or what I looked like. But I remember my life. I have very specific memories of my family and going to school and work and other things. And I remember reading the Twilight books, and seeing the movies at the midnight premieres with my friends. We were such dorks back then, but who wasn’t in their teens?”

“So there were movies too. I’m having a hard time believing that can be true.”

“So you can believe that there were books about your life, but you draw the line at movies?”

“Oh no, I can’t believe there were books either. Who would want to read a book about my life? Sounds like it would be very boring reading about me repeating high school and college forever.”

“Oh, your life is supposed to get a whole lot more interesting once Bella moved to Forks, although I’m not sure what my presence will now screw up. But every teen girl and their moms read these books. Millions of copies were sold. I mean who didn’t want to read a supernatural teen romance. The genre really took off after Twilight.”

Edward was still giving me a look like he didn’t believe a word I was saying.

“Okay, you still don’t believe me. I get it. But how do you explain how I know so much about your family and vampires.”

Edward took a moment to ponder this. “You could have some sort of precognition or some other gift that is powerful enough to come through as a human. Maybe it’s why I can’t read your mind.”

“I - or Bella - can’t see the future. We’ll leave that to Alice. But Bella is a shield. That’s why you can’t read her - and thankfully my - mind.” I paused for a second while Edward took this news in. I had to think about how to word what I wanted to say next. “But about the future. I’m not from 2005. It’s 2020 where I’m from. And I’m 27, not 17.”

Edward stood up, too quickly for a human, and started pacing the room while he thought more.

“Look, Edward. I guess it doesn’t matter what you believe. To me, this world is fictional, from a book I read as a teen. To you it’s real. But what is ‘real’ and ‘fictional’ doesn’t matter. I’m here now and that’s all I can really focus on, so let’s focus on that.” I couldn’t help myself from jokingly adding, “But is it really that crazy to believe that maybe there are multiple universes. I mean vampires and werewolves exist.”

“Stay away from the werewolves. They’re dangerous.” Edward spits out.

“More dangerous than a vampire that my blood sings too?” I threw back in jest. “Don’t worry. The werewolves are not dangerous, just stupid. But I plan to stay as far away from them as possible. I have too much to deal with without having to worry about them.”

Edward stopped pacing and turned back toward me. “So where do we go from here?”

“Well, that is a good question. Can you accept that I am not Bella and that I know many things about you and things that may or may not happen in the future?”

“Until I can figure out another explanation, I think I have to accept that.”

“Ok good. Because I don’t even know where we are in the story. I remember big events in the book, but I forget the timing of them. Like I remember the car accident from the book. Tyler Crowley hit a bad patch of ice in the parking lot, right?”

Edward nodded yes, confirming what I already knew. “Alright. Let me think. Have you and Bella had any lunches together yet?” Edward shook his head No. “What about blood typing in biology. Has that happened yet?” No again. “Wait. How long has it been since Bella started school here?”

“You - or Bella, so you say - started last Tuesday. But I was gone for the rest of the week. And today is Tuesday in case you didn’t know.” Maybe he was remembering me not knowing the date at the hospital.

“A week? Wow, it’s very early in the story. But that could be good. I don’t think anyone knows Bella well enough yet to notice that I’m different.” I was shocked that I hadn’t thought about the fact that I would have to repeat high school again. “Ugh! I don’t even know what people at school look like, or what their names are if they weren’t a big enough character in the book. Returning to school is going to be the worst.”

“I might be able to help you out with that.”

“Really?” I was shocked that he was offering to help. Realizing where we were in the books, Edward’s relationship with Bella had barely progressed at all. I think he already feels protective of her, which is why he saved her from Tyler’s car. And maybe at this point, he might be fascinated (or obsessed) with her. So maybe that’s why he’s offering to help. Or maybe he’s just fascinated by me now.

“Well, you know too much about my family. So I need to keep a close eye on you.”

“Right…”

“But also, Alice already sees herself becoming friends with you.”

“Really? She still sees that, even though I’m not Bella? Did her visions of Bella’s future change after the accident?” I asked all these questions one after another, but I always thought Alice’s visions were the coolest.

But I also let out a yawn after asking, and Edward did not miss it.

“It’s getting late. I can answer questions tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll have more of my own once I talk to my family. In the hospital, you said I could tell Carlisle anything. Does that still stand?”

“Yea, you can tell your whole family if you want. I know you don’t keep much from each other. And I know their secrets, it’s only fair they know mine. Although I do hope they decide not to kill me. And before you say anything, I know they were considering it.”

Edward gave me a smirk as if this was a funny joke I was telling and not my own potential death we were discussing. He headed over to my window.

“Wait. When will I see you again? To get and give more answers,” I asked.

“Tomorrow.”

And he jumped out the window before I could stop him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Let me know what you thought in the comments. Also, I love suggestions, so if there's something you'd like to see, let me know!


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